A leading tobacco firm today requested an urgent meeting with Northern Ireland Secretary Paul Murphy to discuss security for its lorries along the Border.
A spokeswoman for Gallaher's, which has a factory in Ballymena, Co Antrim, confirmed the request was made following the hijacking of a lorry last December carrying cigarettes with a retail value of over £1 million sterling.
A Gallaher's spokeswoman said: "We have requested a meeting with the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland and have, as yet, not heard any response.
"The request for the meeting follows the hijacking in December of one of our vehicles. We had discussions with the Police Service of Northern Ireland but had no guarantees for the safe movement of our cigarettes over the border.
"We will be discussing for more security resources to be allocated to the border area."
The IRA has long been accused of involvement in the black market cigarette trade.
Gallaher's are now shipping their cigarettes from Northern Ireland across the Irish Sea to Liverpool and then back over the water to Dublin to reach the Republic.